Multiple pocket card holder

ABSTRACT

A multiple pocket card holder is provided having means wherein a plurality of card holding members can be nested one within the other within a cover member and firmly and securely retained in this relationship by means of a clip member which frictionally engages flexible hinge members of the card holders between the legs of the clip member. The clip member is formed to provide an elongated line of contact between portions of its opposing legs which engage the flexible hinge members and is of resiliently deformable material so that the elongated line of contact is maintained as the clip member slidably engages one, two or more of the flexible hinge members.

United States Patent [1 1 Stenger [54] MULTIPLE POCKET CARD HOLDER [76]Inventor: Hanns G. Stenger, 70-11 34th Avenue, Jackson Heights, NY.11372 [22] Filed: Jan.25,1971

[21] Appl. No.: 109,155

[52] U.S. Cl. ..l50/39, 24/73 B, 24/259 R,

206/39, 281/46 [51] Int.Cl ..A45c 11/18 [58] Field of Search ..206/39,40.5;

150/38, 39; 24/11 M, 11 F, 49 C, 153 PC, 255 H, 255 P, 259 R, 73 B;281/46, 50

[ 1 May 22,1973

3,018,532 1/1962 Rinaldi ..150/39 X Primary Examiner-Samuel B. Rothberg[57] ABSTRACT A multiple pocket card holder is provided having meanswherein a plurality of card holding members can be nested one within theother within a cover member and firmly and securely retained in thisrelationship by means of a clip member which frictionally engagesflexible hinge members of the card holders between the legs of the clipmember. The clip member is formed to provide an elongated line ofcontact between portions of its opposing legs which engage the flexiblehinge members and is of resiliently deformable material so that theelongated line of contact is maintained as the clip member slidablyengages one, two or more of the flexible hinge members.

5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTED HAY 2 2 I975 m m w H M a I k 4 r An h 2 H m E: I 6 m. F m. 8 m m 7 INVENTOR. HANNS s. STENGER BY ATTORNEYSMULTIPLE POCKET CARD HOLDER This invention relates to a multiple pocketcard holder which is provided with a plurality of envelopes forreceiving cards and with clip means for retaining individual cardholding members in a nested relationship enabling them to belongitudinally engaged by or removed from the clip means. The cardholder of the invention is of a size so that it can be readily carriedin a shirt or jacket pocket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The prior art is replete with various meansand holders which act as binders for retaining such such items aslooseleaf pages, hinged envelopes, cards, and the like in a fixedposition while permitting such items to be added to or removed from suchbinder means.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,454,182 to Myer, discloses a holder for usewith a looseleaf binder which comprises a U-shaped member wherein oneleg of the U-Shaped member is inserted behind sewed pages of a bookwhile the other leg is utilized to engage loose pages which are retainedbetween these legs in a pressing engagement.

In providing a binder or holder for passbooks, U.S. Pat. No. 3,018,532to Rinaldi discloses the use of coopcrating spring means having detentsor stops to retain a plurality of winged envelopes, while U.S. Pat. Nos.3,078,898 and 3,141,213, also to Rinaldi, disclose simi lar spring andpost means as well as a single spring means adapted to engage notches inwinged envelopes.

As exemplified by the prior art patents referred to above, therefore,there have been generally provided holder or hinder means which are ofcomplex construction and which are designed to function in cooperationwith another member and/or which provide only point to point contact inserving to retain pages or envelopes in pressing engagement. With suchholder or binder means the insertion or removal of pages or envelopes isachieved by laterally removing the pages out of or inserting them intoengagement with the holder or binder means and, in most instances, theseholder or binder means must be partially disassembled or disengaged inorder to remove or insert the pages or envelopes.

THE INVENTION It has now been found that the shortcomings of such priorart devices can be overcome by providing the multiple pocket card holderof the invention which generally comprises: a plurality of card holdingmembers each having a pair of open-topped envelopes to receive printedmatter therein, the envelopes being hingeably secured to each otherenabling them to be folded and also enabling a plurality of them to benested within one another; and, a U-shaped clip member, one leg of whichexhibits varied flexibility throughout its length and which is disposedin linear contact along a substantial portion of the length of the otherleg so that card holding members can be slidably inserted into andremoved from the clip member. The configuration of the clip means of theinvention is such that a plurality of card holding members can beretained in a fixed position through the linear area of contact of thelegs of the clip member with the flexible hinges of the card holdingmembers. Such an arrangement facilitates removal and insertion of one ormore card holding members from the clip means without necessity of anydisassembly or other manual manipulation of the clip means so that thecard holder of the invention is simple and easy to use while offering agreat degree of flexibility in its use.

The invention will become more clear when consid' ered together with theaccompanying drawings wherein the various views are set forth toillustrate certain preferred embodiments thereof and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a plurality of the card holders ofthe invention in alignment prior to being nested within each other andfirmly retained in their nested relationship by the clip means of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of a card holder of the invention showing onemanner by which the clip means can be positioned thereon;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken substantially on line 33 ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to that of FIG. 2 illustrating, in an alternateembodiment of the invention, another manner in which the clip means canbe positioned on a card holder;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken substantially on line 5--5of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a front elevation view illustrating one embodiment of the clipmeans of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of the clip means shown in FIG. 6 andillustrating; by dotted lines one manner by which the configuration ofthe clip means of the invention can be obtained; and

FIG. 8 is a view similar to that shown in FIG. 7 illustrating thedisposition and relationship of a plurality of card holding membersengaged by the clip means of the invention.

As shown in FIG. 1 the pocket card holder of the invention comprises aplurality of card holding members consisting of a cover member 10 and aplurality of card holding members as shown at 11 and 12. The covermember 10 and each additional card holding member 11, 12 are shown ascomprising a pair of rectangular open-topped envelopes 13 which arejoined to each other at their adjacent longitudinal edges by means of aflexible hinge member 14. In other adaptations of the inventiondescribed hereinafter, however, cover member 10 can be of somewhatdifferent structure than the other, inner card holding members 11 and12.

The envelopes 13 are preferably made from a selfsupporting, transparentor clear plastic material, while the flexible hinge members 14 can beprovided from similar plastic materials, leather, synthetic leathercompositions, and the like. When transparent or clear material isprovided on both sides of an envelope 13, a card or other itemcontaining printed matter on both sides, or two items each printed onone side, can be inserted in the envelope 13 so that the printed mattercan be easily read through both surfaces thereof. Insertion and removalof such cards or other printed matter into and out of the envelopes 13can be facilitated by providing a thumb slot in the upper, open edges ofthe envelopes 13 as indicated at 15.

Since each pair of envelopes 13 are joined by a flexible hinge member14, the members 10, 11 and 12 can be arranged in a nesting relationshipand secured in this relationship by a clip means generally indicated at16. Once thusly secured, the envelopes 13 can be turned or flipped inthe same way as the pages in a bound book to find the printed materialdesired or required to be referred to at any time. If desired, theexternal portions 13a of envelopes 13 of the cover member 10 can be of atransluscent or opaque material such as the type of material used forthe flexible hinges 14, to facilitate imprinting the outer surfacesthereof.

The clip means 16 of the invention shown in FIGS. 3 and 5-8 comprises agenerally U-shaped clip member having a rear leg 17 integrally joined bya looped portion 17a to a front leg 18 which is of varying flexibilitythroughout its length, and which is formed so that it provides linearcontact with the rear leg 17 along a substantial portion of the lengthof rear leg 17.

When the flexible hinge 14 of the cover member is of single plyconstruction, then clip means 16 can be secured thereto with the rearleg 17 and the front leg 18 on each side of the flexible hinge member 14as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. When the flexible hinge of the cover member10 is of double ply construction as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 at 140 and14b, then it is preferred that the clip means 16 be secured thereto sothat its rear leg 17 is inserted between plies 14a and 14b in the mannerillustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. Thus, rear leg 17 will always be incontact with the flexible hinge 14 of the cover member 10 while frontleg 18 is free to engage either the same flexible hinge or those ofother card holding members nested within the cover member 10.

The lower portion of the front leg 18 of clip means 16 preferablyincludes an angularly disposed or beveled tip as shown at 19, whichfacilitates insertion of one or more card holding members intoengagement with the legs 17, 18 of clip means 16.

The clip means 16 has a configuration as shown in FIG. 6 with rear leg17 being of uniform width throughout its length and front leg 18 beingsomewhat narrower than rear leg 17 at the beveled tip 19 and tapering toa further reduced width adjacent looped end 17a. This narrow, taperedconstruction imparts to front leg 18 varying flexibility which permitsan elongated line of contact 20 to be maintained between legs 17 and 18as the clip is accommodated to slidably engage one, two or more flexiblehinge members 14, each of the card holding members 10, 11 and 12 beinginserted and removed therefrom along the longitudinal axis of theirflexible hinge members 14.

The clip means 16 is preferably made form moldable plastic material andone manner by which it can be formed is illustrated in FIG. 7.Initially, the clip means 16 is formed so that it has the configurationshown in dotted lines in FIG. 7 with the back leg 17 integrally joinedto the front leg 18 by looped portion 17a. At this stage, the radius oflooped portion 17a is such that only point-topoint contact can beprovided between the end of front leg 18 and a point on the body of rearleg 17 such as is indicated at 21. To obtain the configuration of theclip means of the invention, looped portion 170 can be heated andreformed byproper application of pressure such as at points 21a and 21buntil the configuration shown in solid lines in FIG. 7 is obtained. Thisreforming, coupled with the variable resilience in the tapered portionof leg 18, establishes a firm pressing engagement of front leg 18against rear leg 17 throughout the linear area of contact 20.

In a preferred embodiment, that portion of rear leg 17 extending beyondthe beveled tip 19 of front leg 18 is also provided with a detent asshown at 22 which is positioned to mate with an aperture 23 in the hingemember 14 of the cover member 10 as shown in FIG. 8. If desired, thenext innermost card holding member 11 can be similarly provided with anaperture 24 and detent 22 can be of sufficient length to engage at leasta portion of this aperture 24 by extending through aperture 23 of covermember 10. By providing this assemblage, cover member 10 can be retainedfixedly secured between legs 17 and 18 of the clip member 16 wheneveradditional card holding members are inserted or withdrawn therefrom.When the next innermost card holding member 11 is also provided with anaperture 24 (FIG. 8), detent 22 can be of a dimension so that it engagesonly a portion of the aperture 24 of this card holding member 11enabling it to be inserted or withdrawn from the clip member 16 withoutany difficulty.

As shown in FIG. 8, it will be noted that the elongated area of contact20 is maintained by front leg 18 in engagement with the flexible hinge14 of the card holding member adjacent to it and this linear area ofcontact will remain substantially unchanged as a limited number (up toabout six) of flexible hinges 14 are inserted between legs 17 and 18.

One practical use and adaptation of the card holder of the invention isthat of a work guide which can be utilized with jobs having both fixedand variable information requiring easy and ready reference. In suchuse, the cover member 10 can be provided with transparent envelopes 13into which there can be inserted specific identification data as well asgeneral information and data to which repeated reference will be made.Other card holding members, such as 11 and 12, can then have inserted intheir envelopes 13 additional information sheets or cards containingspecific data relating to separate jobs or separate operations of asingle job with which the user is involved. The flexibility of useprovided by the individual card holding members permits data formsrelating to several jobs or operations to be collectively inserted intoor removed from the card holder as, for example, when passing on jobdata forms from an individual in one work shift to an individual in asucceeding work shift.

When the card holder of the invention is utilized in this manner, it maybe desirable for the cover member 10 to be of slightly larger dimensionsthan additional, nested card holding members so that the cover member 10can fully envelop and protect the nested card holding members 11, 12 aswell as the data cards inserted in their envelopes. In specialinstances, the cover member 10 can simply comprise printed plasticsheets coupled by a flexible hinge 14 with the clip means 16 associatedtherewith and a plurality of nested card holding members 11, 12 theninterchangeably associated with the cover member 10.

While the card holder of the invention has been described withparticular reference to the embodiments illustrated in the drawing, itwill be appreciated by those skilled in the art and those practicing theinvention that the various structural features need not be strictlyadhered to. For example, thumb slots 15 can be located at the outercorner edges of the card holding members 10, 11 and 12 and these memberscan be flexibly hinged to each other at adjacent ends rather than atadjacent longitudinal edges. Hence, although the invention has beendescribed with particularity and in some detail, it should be understoodthat changes, alterations and modifications can be made therein by thoseskilled in the art and those practicing the invention without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the invention.

What is claimed:

1. A multiple pocket card holder comprising: a double' ply cover memberhaving a double ply, openedtopped flexible hinge, a plurality of cardholding members adapted to be nested one within another and within saidcover member, each of said members having a pair of open-toppedenvelopes with the adjacent longitudinal edges of said envelopes beingjoined to each other by means of a flexible hinge; and, an integral,U-shaped clip means having opposed legs and adapted to be positionedover the tops of said flexible hinges disposing the legs of said clipmeans downwardly along a substantial portion of said hinges, one leg ofsaid clip means being disposed between the plies of the cover memberhinge and always in engagement with the hinge of said cover member,while the other leg of said clip means is free to frictionally engagethe hinge of at least one other card holding member along a line ofcontact common to said other leg and the hinge of said other cardholding member, said one leg of said clip means being elongated andintegrally joined at one looped end thereof to said other leg of saidclip means which is also elongated but shorted than said one leg, thefree end of said other leg being narrower than said one leg and oftapered configuration to a further reduced width adjacent said loopedend, the narrow, tapered configuration of said other leg impartingvariable flexibility thereto such that an elongated line of contact isachieved and maintained as said clip means accommodates a plurality ofsaid card holding members enabling said members to be firmly retained ina fixed position by said U-shaped clip means while freely permittingslidable insertion and removal of said members into and out ofengagement with said clip means.

2. A multiple pocket card holder as defined in claim 1 wherein saidenvelopes nested within said cover member are transparent.

3. A multiple pocket card holder as defined in claim 1 whereincooperating means are provided on said cover member and said clip meanssuch that accidental displacement of said clip means from said covermeans is prevented.

4. A multiple pocket card holder as defined in claim 3 wherein saidcooperating means comprises an aperture formed in the flexible hinge ofsaid cover member and a detent on said one leg of said clip meanspositioned to engage said aperture as said clip means is positioned onsaid cover member.

5. A clip means for supporting a plurality of flat card holding membershaving flexible hinges in prearranged position, said clip means being ofgenerally U-shaped contour having an elongated rear leg integrallyjoined at a looped end thereof to an elongated front leg which isshorter than said rear leg, the free end of said front leg beingnarrower than said rear leg and of a tapered configuration to a furtherreduced width adjacent said looped end, said front and rear legs havingan elongated line of contact therebetween and the narrow, taperedconfiguration of said front leg imparting variable flexibility theretosuch that said elongated line of contact is maintained when said clipmeans accommodates the reception of the flexible hinges of a pluralityof flat card holding members between said front and rear legs, the endof said front leg being provided with a beveled tip facilitatinginsertion of said flexible hinges into engagement with said front andrear legs, and a detent on that portion of said rear leg extendingbeyond the end of said front leg, said detent being intermediate thesides of said rear leg and projecting therefrom in the direction of saidfront leg a distance less than the protrusion of said beveled tip.

1. A multiple pocket card holder comprising: a double ply cover memberhaving a double ply, opened-topped flexible hinge, a plurality of cardholding members adapted to be nested one within another and within saidcover member, each of said members having a pair of open-toppedenvelopes with the adjacent longitudinal edges of said envelopes beingjoined to each other by means of a flexible hinge; and, an integral,U-shaped clip means having opposed legs and adapted to be positionedover the tops of said flexible hinges disposing the legs of said clipmeans downwardly along a substantial portion of said hinges, one leg ofsaid clip means being disposed between the plies of the cover memberhinge and always in engagement with the hinge of said cover member,while the other leg of said clip means is free to frictionally engagethe hinge of at least onE other card holding member along a line ofcontact common to said other leg and the hinge of said other cardholding member, said one leg of said clip means being elongated andintegrally joined at one looped end thereof to said other leg of saidclip means which is also elongated but shorted than said one leg, thefree end of said other leg being narrower than said one leg and oftapered configuration to a further reduced width adjacent said loopedend, the narrow, tapered configuration of said other leg impartingvariable flexibility thereto such that an elongated line of contact isachieved and maintained as said clip means accommodates a plurality ofsaid card holding members enabling said members to be firmly retained ina fixed position by said U-shaped clip means while freely permittingslidable insertion and removal of said members into and out ofengagement with said clip means.
 2. A multiple pocket card holder asdefined in claim 1 wherein said envelopes nested within said covermember are transparent.
 3. A multiple pocket card holder as defined inclaim 1 wherein cooperating means are provided on said cover member andsaid clip means such that accidental displacement of said clip meansfrom said cover means is prevented.
 4. A multiple pocket card holder asdefined in claim 3 wherein said cooperating means comprises an apertureformed in the flexible hinge of said cover member and a detent on saidone leg of said clip means positioned to engage said aperture as saidclip means is positioned on said cover member.
 5. A clip means forsupporting a plurality of flat card holding members having flexiblehinges in prearranged position, said clip means being of generallyU-shaped contour having an elongated rear leg integrally joined at alooped end thereof to an elongated front leg which is shorter than saidrear leg, the free end of said front leg being narrower than said rearleg and of a tapered configuration to a further reduced width adjacentsaid looped end, said front and rear legs having an elongated line ofcontact therebetween and the narrow, tapered configuration of said frontleg imparting variable flexibility thereto such that said elongated lineof contact is maintained when said clip means accommodates the receptionof the flexible hinges of a plurality of flat card holding membersbetween said front and rear legs, the end of said front leg beingprovided with a beveled tip facilitating insertion of said flexiblehinges into engagement with said front and rear legs, and a detent onthat portion of said rear leg extending beyond the end of said frontleg, said detent being intermediate the sides of said rear leg andprojecting therefrom in the direction of said front leg a distance lessthan the protrusion of said beveled tip.